The present invention relates to a holding and/or smelting furnace for nonferrous metals having an apportioning device for the automatic removal of a predetermined quantity of the nonferrous molten metal from an apportioning chamber, which communicates with a chamber containing the nonferrous metal melt via at least one closable inlet opening and which can be acted upon by a compressed gas in order to emit a predetermined quantity of molten metal from an outlet opening.
Furnaces of this kind are generally used for scooping out a predetermined quantity of the particular nonferrous molten metal and deliver it to a die casting machine. The predetermined quantity to be removed depends on the size of the cast part to be produced in the die casting machine.
In a furnace known from German laid-open patent application DE-OS 29 14 810, the apportioning chamber is suspended on one lever arm of a beam of a weighing apparatus, and a separate closure element having a drive mechanism is provided. This arrangement is relatively complicated in structure and is expensive in view of the structural parts that are used.